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Jason Miller
"No...one more thing... ...Forgive me." History Jason Miller was one of the 113 children in utero at the moment a mysterious flash hit the town of Pederson, Illinois in the late sixties. Growing up, Jason discovered he was possessed of a host of extranormal abilities (including superhuman strenght and speed, invulnerability, flight and the ability to sense radiation), which he kept secret until Matthew Bright displayed his powers saving someone from a falling ceiling. Once the government became involved, he cooperated, bending a bar in front of an astonished scientist. Like Randy Fisk (later the costumed vigilante Ravenshadow), he fell in love with the comics he read, and his dream was to be a superhero. The Specials (as they came to be known) grew up under the watchful eye of the military, developing their powers while attending "day camp" at Camp Sunshine; the children spent their days comparing abilities, trying new things whenever someone else displayed a new ability. Jason became close friends with Joshua Kane and Jerry Montrose, and he quickly became one of the most popular kids among the group, as well as quarterback of the Specials' football team. One day, some of the Specials went to a local college to register for classes, and he approached a booth run by NexusCorp; when the recruiters found out who he was and what he could do, they snapped him up without hesitation. NexusCorp outfitted him with a costume and a new, focus-group-tested name: Flagg; eventually there were legal problems with the name, so the company began testing several new names (including "Anthem" and "Justice") before finally settling on Patriot. Jason spent the next several years of his life fighting whomever he was told to, serving as the company's corporate symbol. At some point, he got married and had children; despite his high profile, they lived in Jason's old house in Pederon. Despite his idyllic life, he wound up being seduced by Stephanie Maas, giving her Critical personality an opportunity to gain a foothold in his psyche. As time passed, the scientists at NexusCorp noticed a steady decline in Jason's abilities. As it turned out, the energy that gave the Specials their powers was finite, but his abilities experienced a spike following the death of Lee Jackson. This gave Critical an opening, so she forced Jason to start murdering low-level Specials in an effort to give her enough power to take over. Following the death of Peter Dawson, John Simon began investigating the murders and, with the help of Lionel Zerb and Clarence Mack (another of Jason's victims), uncovered his connection. However, Jason was able to act first, contacting Joshua and Jerry (now the super villain Pyre) and convincing them to testify that John and the other Specials were plotting to overthrow the government. With the help of Joshua's father, they were able to gain enough support to move against John, who was unable to prove Jason's connection to the killings. The trio, with the assistance of federal troops and the loan of Matthew Bright from the NYPD, began rounding up the other Specials, who were powerless to defend themselves. If they ran or fought, it lended credence to Jason's claim. Ravenshadow was able to organize the remaining Specials, but a single phone call was enough to tip of the government to their location. In the ensuing confrontation, several were killed, which led to an event that came to be known as The Surge. The energy remaining in the dead was redistributed among the survivors, causing everyone's powers to reach a tipping point. Everyone's powers (with the exception of certain Specials like Sanctuary) were boosted, and everyone gained strength and the ability to fly; unfortunately, it gave Critical Maas the ability to take over permanently, and she then proceeded to take over Chicago. Over the next ten years, Jason largely laid low, going on the occasional mission for NexusCorp. When John and Randy began their raid on Chicago, Jason and Matthew were sent in; once there, Jason revealed that he was under Critical's control, and beat Matt mercilessly. Although Critical was ultimately defeated, Matt wound up in a coma. Shortly thereafter, Jason went to Doc Welles' funeral, where John gave an impassioned speech about the Specials' responsibility to reshape the world. Jason, distraught over what he'd done to Matt and his other friends, interrupted a NexusCorp press conference, announcing his resignation and accusing the company of operating sweat shops in a half dozen states. He quietly moved his family to a remote cabin so they'd be safe, then set about trying to figure out what he'd be able to do to help. With his wife's help, he decided to use his powers to track down and dispose of the world's nuclear weapons. For the next twenty years, Jason crisscrossed the globe, removing weapons from the world's nuclear arsenal and stashing them in a specially-carved cavern in the North Pole. During these trips, he often came under heavy fire from the troops guarding the warheads, which ruptured the casing and exposed him to the fissionable material within. Over time, the radiation made Jason sick and killed his family. Soon, all he had left was his work, and Matthew, who'd never recovered from his coma. Returning from one of his trips, Jason found a message waiting, informing him of Jerry's death at the hands of government forces. All of the other Specials had gone to ground, leaving he and Matt as the only high-profile targets. Jason raced to Matt's side just as troops were arriving, and he was hit with a pulse from the same EM Generator that had robbed Jerry of his powers. He barely made it to the window of Matt's room, but not before suffering a number of gunshot wounds. Jason crawled to Matt's bedside as the troops stormed the building. He rushed the troops, suffering more wounds in the process, but his blood reacted with Matt's, reviving him. Matt tore through the remaining troops, and destroyed the EM generators, before rushing back to his wounded friend. Jason refused medical treatment, telling him where footage of what happened was kept. Jason begged for forgiveness before succumbing to his injuries. Powers and Abilities Super Strength: The force that powered the Specials' abilities allowed Jason Miller to lift thousands of pounds. At 18, his upper limit was around 2500 pounds, though this would have gone up with the various power increases over the years. Super Speed: Jason's base speed was 800 miles per hour. Flight: Jason was capable of using the force to negate the effect of gravity. Sensitivity to Radiation: Jason was capable of sensing radioactive materials, regardless of shielding. This did not, unfortunately, include an immunity to the effects of radiation, as he suffere that same sickness a baseline human would have. Invulnerability: Jason was able to withstand physical blows (even from other Specials), bullets, and extreme temperatures. Genius-Level I.Q.: Jason possessed an I.Q. of 240, though whether this was a result of his powers is unknown. Miscellaneous When the legal issues arose regarding Jason's use of the name Flagg, it was stated that "some guy named Chaykin owns the rights". This is a reference to the character Rueben Flagg, created by comic artist Howard Chaykin. Category:Characters Category:Pederson Specials Category:Critical's Army